Radio Broadcast Week 5

This week we began looking more in-depth at Packages, and how they are put together, structured and written before we start work on our own package for assessment.

Packages consist of the following:

è A cue from the presenter of the show.

è An introduction and conclusion from the reporter.

è Various Audio Cuts

è Normally, some kind of music bed

è All of these packaged together in a way that flows naturally and gives the information to the listener in an easy way.

When writing the package material, you should always consider the Layout, the Purpose and the Language:

è Layout means how the script of the package is set out. This means that it should always be printed out and double spaced, on separate sheets of paper (so as, obviously, to not make noise when you have to read the next part), and the directions for who reads what on the left hand side of the page as appropriate.

è Purpose means that the package should have a specific direction which includes news, drama and be part of a commercial production.

è Language means that you should remember that you have a specific target audience, and you should use language that appeals to that specific audience. So, you should keep the language you use during the package informal, using shorter sentences (meaning if it isn’t important, or isn’t part of what you’re trying to say, then leave it out!) and avoid using any clichés, flowery language or empty adjectives like “fine”.

The cue sheets that are normally used before introducing a package on-air are highly important as they help a presenter introduce the package in the right kind of way, and are used for getting into and out of programme items like packages or recorded or live interviews. Cue sheets are normally set out in the following way:

TITLE: This should be the same on the cue sheet as it appears on the audio file.

CUE: What the presenter reads before playing in the package, and is normally a teaser for the content and gives very little away.

IN: The first words of the recorded package

DUR: The duration of the recording written as a time signature (2’30”), and must be ACCURATE!

OUT: The last words or sounds of the recorded package.

BACK ANNO: This is the back announcement from the presenter closing off the programme item

So, when we were given a pre-recorded package about a feral cat that fell asleep in a car manufacturing oven and narrowly escaped being burned alive, the cue sheet I wrote to accompany it looked something like this:

TITLE: Lucky Tabby

CUE:  Whoever said that cats don’t have 9 lives clearly hasn’t met one particularly lucky tabby that narrowly escaped a hairy situation, as John Smith will tell you.

IN: “The 6 month old tabby...”

DUR: 2’30”

OUT: “...8 remaining”

BACK ANNO: Reports have said that Scorcher is making a full recovery and will have quite the tail to tell.

This led us into our first piece of assessed work, where we will be putting together a package of our own of any kind of story we like. The package we create has to be more than 3 minutes and less than 5, have a minimum of 2 interviews and be edited together in a broadcast quality package. The subject matter, however, is entirely up to us and can be anything that we like.

For my chosen package, and in light of it being Halloween this week, I have decided to create a package on The History of Zombies, and how likely it is that a Zombie Plague could happen. As research for this package, I hope to be able to include:

è The origins of the legends and how they have changed with Pop-culture, and why we are so afraid of them.

è How the effects of Zombie movies have changed over the years and they have been reflective and representative of a changing society and social trends.

è Vox Pops of Zombie film fans and what these films mean and represent to them.

è The medical side of a Zombie Apocalypse, and whether science is capable of implicating such effects, and whether they are able to cure them at the same time. This will also include the possibilities of virus outbreaks and whether similar effects to Zombification can actually occur through certain viruses.

è An interview with a professional in a scientific field of virology or epidemiology (Viruses and epidemics), and what their opinion on the situation would be.

è And finally, whether it is the fear of bio-engineering that is most prominent or the fear of the unknown that the appeals of these films lie.

With any luck, I will be able to achieve the right kinds of interviews to make this package exactly what I want it to be, and I will give you a progress update of how the process is coming for next weeks instalment!